We talked about conflict-free diamonds not too long ago and mentioned that Leonardo DiCaprio will be starring in the upcoming film “The Blood Diamond.” Now, the diamond issue has made its way into the hip-hop scene as well, and not just for blinging purposes. Russell Simmons is planning to make a trip to Africa to learn more about diamond mines and factories as part of a program he’s launching to teach Africans more about the diamond industry–and hopefully empower them enough to become major players in the field. Russell also works on The Simmons Jewelry Company with De Beers, which doesn’t support the use of conflict diamonds. Yahoo! News has more on this.

Hehe, one learns something new everyday indeed. I haven’t been too aware of the issue of conflict diamonds till now. Anyway, I think it’s nice of Russell to want Africans to have more knowledge and control over one of their major resources, but isn’t mining kind of worrying? I’ve personally never been able to believe that all companies practice sustainable mining methods.

Get Ecorazzi in your inbox, once a week:

Michelle

It’s ironic that Mr. Simmons is teaming up with De Beers considering they are well-known as a major player in the conflict-diamond industry. They’ve even been known to feed the fire of cheap labor working under inhumane conditions. Crazy. Anyhow, for a little education on the subject, go to http://www.freerangestudios.com and follow the links to their short flash videos. Watch the one on conflict diamonds and see if you recognize the song. Hmmmmm, sounds like the De Beers commercial song….